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Issue #5 2007
MICROCAR NEWS
Publisher MICROCAR.ORG How do I get this magazine?
go to www. Microcar.org and click the Join Now Button, follow the directions. We can also send you a form in the mail, just write or call (see below)
In this Issue:
4 5 6 8 10 13 18 20 22 24 25 28 30 30 31 Letters to the Editor eBay Watch IsettaLady: East Coast, smart choice Isetta 700 conversion BMW 600 Sport conversion REFIATS - 50 years worth pt4 GOULDS Event Photos A Perfect Pair of Vespa 400s Collectible Toy Roundup ON Collecting... Classifieds Parts & Suppliers Meet Calendar Petersen Museum Microcar Exhibit Classic Vespa 400 Ad
ISSUE # 5 2007
In case you forgot: You get SIX Issues of MICROCAR NEWS per year. Not FOUR! Starting with Issue #1 2007 your mailing label should have something like this:
TIME TO RENEW?
Published by MICROCAR.ORG Inc. P.O. box 6136 Evanston, IL 60204-6136 www.microcar.org tel: 630-MICROCAR (630-642-7622)
If calling from outside the USA/Canada, dial: 001-630-642-7622 The Vintage Microcar Club is focused primarily Microcars that are over 25 years old and have an engine displacement of 1000 cc or less. Dues are $35 annually for U.S. and Canadian members and $45 annually for International members. Members receive Six Issues of Microcar News Annually Advertising Rates: Full page $400 ; 12 page $250 ; 14 page $150 Discounts are available for multiple insertions, request an Ad Spec Sheet All contents copyright 2007 by Microcar.org Inc. Except for rights claimed by individual contributors as stated herein. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained.
USA Residents: this is printed on the Back Page of the magazine. Outside USA (including Canada): this is on the mailing label on your envelope.
So look at your mailing label. The actual expiration date will vary depending on when you signed up. Also- If we got your renewal AFTER Sept 5, your mailing label for this issue will not be updated. You can renew on-line via the website very easily, or print out a quick renewal form from the website and send a check. You can also just send a check with your NAME and ZipCode and well figure it out!
Cover : Rob & Patty Gerrings His-N-Hers Vespa 400s Back Cover : Wendy Costas Art for GOULDs 2007 meet
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I have recently purchased a rare Microcar called a Rytecraft Scootacar and would like to know if you have more info than what I can find on Google? What I find are a few pictures of the car in its hey day and one that is in a Museum today but no other technical info or schematics. I would love to replicate the car but need more pictures showing how it looked on the inside (interior such as, floorboard, dashboard, accessories) and the like to do an accurate replica. These parts are missing on my model. Chassis is very good but body is rusted. In some areas missing sections of floor. It is unique as it is a boat tail design and not as the typical found on the web. If you have any information that can shed some light on my queries please advise. Thank you. Angel Otero Hopatcong NJ vintagemade@aol.com
Q A Q
Hello found a 1957 BMW Isetta The car shows registerd 35 hours.. Been sitting in a barn under a cover for 50 +years. Barn find.. Owners are in their 80,s Want to know how collectable and what a good price would be to buy it. its in Michigan and its Red and white and looks to be in really good cond with all parts . Thanks William Grant MI Isettas do not have Hour Meters. Are you sure it is an Isetta? sorry we are not an appraisal service, consider joining the Club 1957 Isetta in auction this coming weekend. The car was said to run when parked 9 years ago, and when I looked at it it looked in great cond . Two Tone red and white paint all shiny. No rust anywhere and the car looks to be a 95 out of 100 . Looks like very little to be done to make it a 100% Chrome shiny and interior like new. Its a estate auction where the people were in ther 90s when they passed away. I need to know what would be a good price when I bid.. The reserve is $12,000 Thanks Bill Grant MI I thought it was under a cover for 50 years? and the owners aged 10 years in the past month? Wow. No wonder they died! also- again we are not an appraisal service, consider joining the Club
I hoped was the clutch and turned the Key. No it didnt start on the first try it started on the second!! -William Grant MI I just recieved a 1957 300 Isetta Yesterday. It was payment for putting on a new Roof for a old lady So she could sell the house. The old lady said it was in her basement since her hubby parked there 30 years ago . All Paint is shiney, Chrome all shiney and no rust that I can see. Any way I was wondering If you know a of a better place to list the car for sale. Than E Bay. Maybe a web site that Isetta enthusiasts watch for such a car? I dont know anything about these cars and what they are worth. I dont want to try to start it because I do know you shouldnt start a motor that has been sitting for a long time. Soo what are your thoughts ?? -William Grant MI My thoughts? You want free advice so you can flip a car. I thought you said you bought it at an Estate Auction, now you got it as payment for putting on a roof? First it was under a tarp for 50 years, then it was put away 9 years ago, now it has been parked for 30 years. ??? First you said you started the engine, then you said you dont want to try and start it. ??? Put it on eBay.
Classic Motorsports to feature microcars in their November issue. Vintage Microcar club member, Berkeley owner and Classic Motorsports magazine publisher, Tim Suddard has advised us that the November issue of his publication will feature a variety of microcars on the cover. The Vintage Microcar Club has negotiated with Suddard to have every one of our members (as of Aug 26 2007) receive this issue in the mail. If you want to get a subscription to, or learn more about this publication and the Berkeley project car that they are building go to www.ClassicMotorsports.net and check out their website. And check your mailbox for this issue of Classic Motorsports! Also- since it is impossible to deliver MICROCAR NEWS at the same time to everyone, I have been trying an experiment by sending out a link to a preview of the Classifieds once the magazine is actually mailed. It can take up to 2 weeks for the magazine to reach everyone so this means that at least half of you can get the Classifieds at about the same time now. If you are not on this email list, drop me an email and let me know you want to sign up for the next issue and you will be sent an email with a link where you just click and are subscribed: email: jim@microcar.org
-Jim Janecek - editor
Q
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This past weekend I attended a estate auction here in Grant Michigan. ........When I got the car home I took the garden hose to it and was amased, under all the dust was a near mint 300 Isetta......I put in new gasoline and charged up the battery. I got inside and tried to figure out how this little car worked. I Put the gear shift in Netural and stepped on what
eBay Watch
110139844990
eBay has proven to be a pretty good indicator of market value for stuff. Its also fun to find stuff and not have to get off yer duff. Heres a roundup of recent Microcar sales that passed through eBay.... Only items that SOLD are listed, if a car did NOT meet Reserve, it is not listed. Many dont meet reserve. All items are in the US unless noted. All prices are US Dollars
200122179566
$16655.00
220112150958
exact same car as above! Same VIN,same seller, ++ Feedback left for first buyer? seller is TEFLONJOHNNY in both cases WTF?
$7187.40
160125251148
Is there something we missed? Send us the eBay listing! Vintage Microcar Club www.microcar.org
Micros in Boston
Charles and Nancy Goulds 12th annual microcar meet was held July 13-15 in Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston. It was their twelveth time, but my first time to attend their big party for the microcars. And what a party it was! As Charles says, this is no park and polish show; its a driving meet like they hold in Europe. Charles and Nancy are superb hosts and really go all out. He then offered me a choice of cars to drive for the weekend either a Renault Dauphine or a smart car. That was a no-brainer for me. I chose the smart car to be able to drive one for the very first time. You see, last March I put my $99 dollars down to buy a smart in 2008, just like a lot of you did, but I had never even ridden in one. So to be able to drive this smart car for all of the weekend driving events was thrilling for me.
of these on faith as I did, then rest easy, you have a delightful surprise coming. All in all, this was a jam-packed long weekend of microcars and their interesting owners. Thank you to all of you who came up and introduced yourself to me. Many of you had been HMI Club members, readers of BUBBLE NOTES, or Isetta parts customers of years past. It was great to put a face to the name.
There were some great microcars at the meet, but few Isettas. They used to be the mainstay of the shows in earlier years when perhaps 85% of the attendees had Isettas. Now there are so many other microcars that have come out of the woodwork, and have been imported from Europe that it has changed the attendance at the meets to encompass a large variety of tiny cars. I have recently heard Isettas referred to as the garden-variety of microcars which sounds a unfair and even a little insulting to me. They helped put the microcars back on the map over all the years. The car was really a joy to drive and it has more interior room than it looks. As this was a convertible They are a unique, quality built vehicle. Theres a lot of them left to warrant numerous parts sources. with the top down, you could hear the little transmission shift in the breeze. It was fun to use the They always have and will remain my true love and paddle shift instead of automatic. If you ordered one automotive preference out of all of the microcars I have owned. 6 Microcar News #5 2007
Ever since I got my Isetta it just hasnt run like it should, with a lot of backfiring and cutting out. After replacing the fuel tap and giving it a complete tune-up, the only culprit left was the Bing carburetor, model 1/22/98. We fiddled with that for too long before giving up in desperation and mailing the carburetor off to Bing headquarters in Kansas of all places. In the olden days of being an Isetta spare parts supplier, I sold brand new factory carbs from Bing in the 1970s for a mere $75.00, eventually topping out at $95.00 in the mid-1980s. Today they are simply no longer available unless you want a similar carburetor with a manual fuel shut-off valve from an older BMW motorcycle. Bing does have those available. Being a purist, I opted for their total rebuild service with all new parts. It really needed a new gas slide and to have the inside of that area polished. I waited patiently as it took 8 weeks for the roundtrip to Bing since they always have a backlog of carbs to rebuild. Charlie, their rebuilding technician, was most knowledgeable and helpful on the phone. Unwrapping the package I had high hopes when I saw it looked brand new. Due to the elevation I reside at in Colorado (4,500 ft.), Charlie changed the main jet to #120 (down from the usual #125) to help compensate for higher altitude. We bolted it on, it started right up, and it has run perfectly ever since! Many other microcars also use Bing carbs and could surely benefit from this service when youre short on parts and especially if the carburetor is a mess. They are friendly folks to chat with on the phone and can supply you with most individual parts too. I wholeheartedly recommend this service. It was definitely worth the wait and the expense, even though I cringed a bit at the cost due to inflation over the years. The parts and labor charge is $232 for a standard rebuilding. The gas slide was an additional cost of $60.00. Bing enclosed a reminder that it is extremely important to ALWAYS turn off the fuel petcock every time you park the car. If there is the smallest bit of dirt or debris from the fuel tank or fuel Vintage Microcar Club
line this can lodge in the seat of the carb which will cause a blockage of the needle making it impossible for the fuel to shut off, causing the carb to leak fuel. This presents the possibility of a fire hazard. This is the only factory authorized franchise for Bing International for North America, South America and Australia. Bing International L.L.C. 1704 South 525 Road Council Grove, KS 66846 Orders - Toll free 1-800-309-2464 Technical help - 620-767-7844 www.bingcarburetor.com email:bing@bingcarburetor.com
Marilyn J. Felling was one of the founders of the HMI Club (Heinkel, Messerschmitt, Isetta) and was the Editor/Publisher of BUBBLE NOTES for 15 years from 1970-1985. She also ran an extensive Isetta parts service during that time as well. If you have any questions for The Isetta Lady, send them to Marilyn c/o The Club PO box or email: Marilyn@microcar.org
$339.00
Made in USA!
(Milwaukee, WI) R&G Manufacturing Inc. 3333 W. Kiehnau Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53209 Phone: 414-352-1988
XL Model Motorcycle style twist grip throttle Ergonomically designed handlebars Makes operation a breeze and fun EZ Start hi output 25CC Poulan 2-cycle motor Plenty of power to handle your blending needs
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Story and Photos by David RIMSPOKE Brower The Isetta I have built is probably the purest blend of BMW Car & Bike ever made. It is powered by a 1962 700 sport engine . The boxer twin is coupled to an Isetta tranny and drives the axle by way of gears through a driveshaft. There is no chain. This mechanical layout requires the car to be a convertible ~ a full convertible! This is so the engine can be removed straight up through the body. It has a large hatch in the rear deck with the spare tire bolted to the underside. It has an engine cover on both sides of the car. Behind each one is a head & a carburetor. Each side has its own exhaust too. All of this fits within the confines of the original body the front & rear track have not been changed although the wheelbase is about an inch longer. This gives it a much lower center of gravity. The air ductwork that feeds the engine is under the seat. It has a special storage compartment behind the passanger for the jack , tools & a small lunch. I wanted to make a car that BMW could have produced had they tried. With that in mind , it has many vintage parts incorporated in the design right down to vintage matching vdo gauges. The speedometer runs clockwise up to 80mph on this isetta! This car has been on the drawing board for over 20 years. Numerous people have told me that it could not be done. I did it anyways, it just took a lot longer than I expected. Refinements are being made. When the airscoops are done, they will be painted to match the car . I suspect that the Isettas have had the wind vacuum fighting with the fan problem all along. No one ever realized it before because they couldnt reach out and put their hand over the air intake while driving down the road . I can still feel hot air coming out at 70mph & I want it all going in. The custom top has zip in side curtians that can be rolled up and stowed in a pocket in the boot cover. Engine & Tranny layout. You can see how the chassis now comes up over the tranny and supports the motor mounts, shift linkage, 700 shocks with coilovers, rear fenders and brackets that support the body itself. (You can see the body brackets on either side of the spare tire) You would be amazed by how much the body brackets stiffen things up especially when the roof is gone and there is a large door in the deck. It is far more ridgid now than a stock Isetta that has the whole rear body just floating around having no attatchment points beyond the firewall.
The reconfigured firewall behind the seat. Tight squeeze here! You can also see how the seat has been reshaped to accomodate the new design. Because I lost all of the underseat storage to cooling air ductwork and re-arranging other components to make room for the air ductwork, I needed a place to put the jack & tools. Since the motor occupies different areas in the car now, I found enough space to build a little secret compartment behind the passenger. It has room for the jack , tools and a spare bottle of oil. Since the standard Isetta tee-handle jack wrench wont quite fit in the box, I made a special break away handle that will. I stamped bilstein on it before we sent it off to the platers.
Engine access: lift the rear deck! You may notice that the spare tire is from a vespa. When I put all of this on paper years ago, I made scale drawings to show the placement of all the parts. The stock size spare fit in the drawings but on the real car it hung down far enough to interfere with the air plenums on the carbs. It was also too large to fit between the gas tank and the firewall. We are only talking about 1/4 inch or so in either case but the easiest way to solve it was to mount a smaller tire. It is a fully functional spare & is at least as useful as the ones on new cars these days .
The speedometer runs clockwise up to 80mph on this Isetta! (Photo taken while driving)
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ow many times while driving your micro or minicar have you not wanted some extra power? Not necessarily for speed, but the ability to accelerate and keep up with traffic. I actually think its a safer way to travel, not holding up traffic or traveling at a speed significantly slower than those coming up from the rear. This article is how I accomplished this in my 1959 BMW 600. It was not long after completing the restoration on my 600 that this need for extra power began. As designed, the 600 engine is known for its reliability. This holds true for all BMW boxer engines, along with their simplicity and ease of maintenance. By the time the 600 launched in the fall of 1957, Isettas (250/300) along with most bubble cars had reputations of poor engine reliability due largely to their owners operating them at loads close to their limit. To ensure the 600 engine was not operated at its maximum potential, the air intake volume was restricted, NASCAR style. By restricting the incoming air volume, an engine cannot reach its maximum potential, decreasing thermal loads and stress, in turn increasing its reliability. The restriction in the 600 is the carburetor. By comparison when this engine is used in motorcycle trim (R67) its equipped with two carburetors, each with an ID that is probably double what the 600 has. This restriction results in the 600 having about 10 fewer horsepower than the R67 (26 hp (SAE), vs. 35 hp). Im sure the size of this restriction was also dictated by the requirement to keep the horsepower below 20 HP (DIN), keeping the 600 in a desirable vehicle tax category in the German market. The DIN (Deutsche Industry Norm) horsepower rating of the 600 is 19.5 hp. Speaking of horsepower ratings, the old SAE gross HP rating was achieved with an engine running under optimal conditions without any ancillary devices (generator, cooling fan, etc.) connected. New SAE HP ratings are almost identical to DIN HP ratings. Although I wanted more power, I never had the desire to throw on dual carbs onto my 600 engine. I knew that the work involved would only result in a marginal performance improvement. If I was going to take on such a task I figured that an upgrade to a 700 engine would be the better way to go. But not just any 700 engine, the dual carb 40 (DIN) hp version. Most 700s were equipped with a single carb 30 hp engine. The 700 engine has several enhancements over the 600 engine, most notably higher compression and engine oil cooler. The 40 hp engine has even higher compression, domed pistons, larger valves and hotter cam. But I also knew that there were significant internal differences between 600 & 700 transaxles that would require a 700 transaxle for a successful 700 engine transplant. And as luck would have it, a listing in Hemmings offered a 700 engine & transaxle, but was it a 40 hp engine? Some questions to the seller confirmed that this was the case! A week and 200 miles later I was inspecting what was being offered. The heads had been taken off revealing a major groove in one cylinder bore. The carbs were missing, but all of the engines cooling sheet metal pieces were present. A deal was struck and I loaded up the parts for there trip home were they sat in storage for a couple of years. Had it not been for a mistake by the author, these parts would probably still be sitting in my basement. Some words of advice. If you see smoke coming from your car, stop and check its vitals. Find out what is causing the smoke before deciding to keep driving. If not, you may end up in
my situation with an engine locked up tight. The decision as to what engine to repair was fairly simple. The installation however proved to be quite challenging. Had I known what I now know, I doubt if I would have gone down this path. But once into it, there was no turning back. Rebuilding the 700 engine was straight forward. I did however call upon the expertise of Elliott Butler to go through the bottom end and suggestions for increased performance without sacrificing reliability. The major tweak was to further increase the compression ratio through the use of thin copper cylinder head gaskets. With the engine assembled the next task was to get all of the engine cooling sheet metal pieces fitted to the engine compartment sheet metal pieces and the heat exchanger. Although similar, these pieces are different and take some modification to get them to fit. Next was the task of working out the engine/transaxle support. In a 600 the transaxle has two mounting ears for the attachment of a brace which supports the transaxle, with the engine being bolted to the transaxle. This brace connects to the frame via two rubber mounts located above each cylinder head. In a 700 the engine/transaxle is supported via a brace which is located closer to the cooling fan on the rear of the engine. Most 700 transaxles do not have the mounting ears for the brace used in the 600. Not being the first one to perform such a transplant, I was fortunate to read articles and see photos of two similar projects in the magazine of the German Isetta Club. They opted to make a new brace that connected to mounting point on the 700 engine and the two rubber mounts on the 600 frame. Wanting to keep things looking as original as possible, I opted to modify the 600 bracket with some additional gussets and ears to permit it to connect with two upper fixing points for the engine to transaxle. But with this selection additional complications are incurred with the carburetion and intake plumbing. Unlike the 600 which has its intake ports on the front of the cylinder heads, similar to the motorcycle setup, the 700 intake ports are on the top of the cylinder head. The 40 hp engines were equipped with two downdraft carbs that bolted onto short intake tubes that screwed into these intake ports. On the left (driver side) head the intake port is directly below the left rubber
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engine mount. Even if these rubber mounts were out of the way you would not be able to mount the dual carbs from a 700 as they would not clear the 600 fuel tank. On the 700 it was up front in the trunk. Seeing that there was some room to run a curved intake tube between the I first had to get some carbs, preferably ones that were cable operated to make their synchronization and actuation easier to construct. Again it was Elliott Butler who came to the rescue with a set of side draft Mikunis from a previously aborted project. Once received I was able to try several potential mounting positions before ending up with one above the cylinders angled in from the intake ports. Curved tubes were used in conjunction with short sections of radiator hose to connect the carbs to the intake ports. The carbs are supported by tabs which were welded to the engine brace and captured under clamps securing the carbs to the intake tubes. And now for the actuation of the carbs. I was not concerned about the actuation of the choke or enrichment circuit on the Mikunis, if needed that could be done manually in the engine compartment. The 600 accelerator cable provides a pulling motion in the engine compartment with approximately 24 mm of travel. I needed about 30 mm of travel for full opening of the carburetor slides, and needed this to be provided to both carbs. I ended up making a splitter/multiplier mounting it on the center of the engine. Several runs on my engine/ test stand let me get the carbs dialed in and engine checked out prior to installation in the car.
Another alternative would be to switch over to true CV (constant velocity) joints. One of the previously mentioned 600s in Germany had these installed with complete success. The only downside being a slight bit more noise/vibration being felt as the drivetrain is no longer isolated from the frame/body. Although I knew this would require quite a bit more work, the return would be worth it as the joints and shafts that would hold up to the power and could last the life of the vehicle. Off I went to the closest junkyard in search of a donor set of half shafts with CV joints. Familiar with BMWs from the 70s & 80s I knew they had half shafts of the type I was looking for, those being bolted to the output flanges on the differential and stub axles. I figured that I would be able to find a set from an Asian built economy car that would be smaller in size than those used in BMWs, better sized for the power of the new engine. I soon found out that these vehicle had half shafts without bolted connections, and that late model BMWs had also switched over to this type. As the yard had plenty of early to mid eighties 5 series BMWs (E28 models) I just had to find one with both shafts, preferably with all four CV boots still intact. A couple hours and $80 later, I had such a set. An additional $20 at AutoZone got me a new set of CV boots and grease along with a new coat of paint. That was the easy part. Now I had to figure out to install these shafts which were way too long with bolt patterns that did not match up exactly with 600 flanges. After much measuring I was able to determine how much the shaft had to be shortened. Cutting 93 mm out of the 27 mm solid shafts was fairly easy and on a trip to Home Depot I found some
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with the 600. Its a story worthy of a separate article, but I ended up making a set of custom wheels with 12 rims from the 700 and centers from a 600. With 12 radials, the indicated and actual speeds are now identical. Was it worth it? For me the answer is a big yes. Sure it has better acceleration, but the real benefits are having sufficient power to cruise at 60 mph, and maintain that speed on uphill grades. Hills that previously required dropping down to 2nd gear are now topped in 4th gear with only slight reduction in speed. There is a trade off however when it comes to fuel economy. The 600 engine would deliver approximately 40 mpg on regular. With the 700 its closer to 30 using premium. I cant report on the top speed as the speedo ends at 80. If Im crazy enough to check it again Ill need to borrow a portable GPS. Thats another project for another time. Now its time to play & enjoy. -Bruce Baker Montvale NJ
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The very first up close and personal group of FIAT 500s I remember seeing were at Cornellio Motors at the top of East Main Street in Torrington, Connecticut, during the winter of 1959. Of all the cars in the showrooms, the one which most impressed me was a truly handsome black-over-red 500 Bianchina (Fig. 53) with wide
to 18.5 hp. After 1958s stunning first, second, third, and fourth place in class finishes at the 12 hours race at Hockenheim, Germany, by a 21.5 hp Sport model, however, the fortune of the 500 changed and it went on to sell a total, including under-license production and bare chassis provided to coachmakers in Italy, over four million copies.
Fig. 55- FIAT 500 near-final mock-up showing 2-seater roofline (white) and definitive designs profile of 2+2 seater (red line)
whitewalls like the one pictured. It was, I thought, an even classier color combination than my navy-over-light gray 1958 FIAT 600. But with only two seats and a small air-cooled engine, I hesitated to trade for this car which looked for all the world like some finely crafted piece of jewelry. One of my wifes fellow teachers at the Cheektowaga (NY) High School had one of the regular FIAT 500 sedans and she frequently rode to work with him in it. My impression was of how much smaller it was than our Millecento, the two-tone grey FIAT 1100 we had traded up to after my RISD graduation and starting work at the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C. His red 500 seemed considerably smaller than what I remembered of my 600 and there were features which were decidedly different from the 600 such as the applied style of door latch (Fig. 54) in which the mechanism is housed in a chromed shell applied to the door rather than the mechanism being within the door itself. This latch was actually from the parts bin of Giacosas first design, the 1935 FIAT 500, the Topolino. The biggest difference between the Nuova (New) 500 and the 600 is that the 500s engine has two fewer cylinders and they are air-and not liquid-cooled. The Nuova 500s rear seat is kids only, too. The smallest-ever FIAT, the Cinquecento is the work of Dante Giacosa, FIATs engineering chief. The car had been conceived by Giacosa as a 2+2 with small adults or children accommodated in the rear seats. Management, however, was averse to a less expensive 4place car competing with the then-new full 4-seater 600. The prototype was a fairly accurate representation of the final product save for its fastback line to the roof (Fig. 55). When Giacosas design prevailed, the roof was bumped up and out to the rear without changing the bodywork below the beltline and this gave the car its characteristic little kink or slight concavity of the rear profile. The 500, which was launched in 1957 to underwhelming reviews and public demand, was soon boosted in power from to 16 hp
Fig. 56- 1960 FIAT 500 with US-compliant headlamps mounted in larger, higher bucket
Unfortunately of us Yanks, the car never attained anywhere near the success it enjoyed in Europe and it was withdrawn from the North America market after only a few years. This may have been, in part, due to its strange, almost surprised visage (Fig. 56) compared to the rest-of-the-world model. This was a result of the semi-external head-lamps, a US requirement for height, diameter, and type, then the requisite and ubiquitous seven inch sealed beams which, though a vast step forward when made mandatory around 1940 were barely adequate any more a mere twenty years later. The engine, as mentioned, is air-cooled (Fig. 57). It is an all-aluminum, in-line, overhead-valve two-cylinder unit with a nodular cast-iron crankshaft and steel cylinders. With the F model, the engine was enlarged to 598cc and developed 28 HP. The 500 employs the simple but effective crankshaft-mounted centrifugal oil filter which is a part of the accessory drive pulley originally designed for this car and retro-fitted to the 600D. It is so effective that it extracts even tetraethyl lead back in the day when lead was the standard octane enhancer in motor fuels from the miniscule bits of combustion vapors which bypass the piston rings and make their way into the crankcase and the lubricating oil. The oil itself is cooled with a finned stamping welded to the outside of the steel oil pan, forming air ducts which are fed cooling
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Fig. 57- FIAT 500 engine. Generator/Fan in housing on left. Aluminum cover of Centrifugal Oil Filter can be seen on crankshaft pulley
The 500 shares Ing. Dante Giacosas ingenious suspension designs with its larger sibling, the FIAT 600. The front suspension utilizes the double-mounted transverse leaf spring which acts as a builtin stabilizer and the rear suspension, likewise, is the ground-breaking semi-trailing arm design. The extremely strong, lightweight unitized body/chassis has all components attached directly to the body shell and is designed with deformable, or controlled crunch sections at both ends. Dante Giacosa received the prestigious Compasso d Oro award for his ingenious body design (Fig. 58) in which the entire outer body-side panel is stamped from a single sheet of steel with the inner door being blanked out of the door aperture. Conversely, the outer door is blanked out of the single-sheet inner body stamping. Thus, an entire body side, from headlamp to taillamp, including the door, is stamped out of two sheets of steel with great savings in tooling, assembly, and labor costs. Exposed rear hinges originally supported the doors but in the F model, the hinges were moved to the front and concealed, burst-proof latches were fitted, and the body became somewhat more complex but also more robust.
air from the fan plenum on the left, venting on the right side of the engine. As with the 600s water-cooled cylinder head, the air-cooled 500 has the intake manifold formed into the beautifully designed aluminum casting. No people I know of can surpass the Italians in casting and pressure molding light metals into beautifully crafted and functional pieces. A floor-mounted shift lever controls the aluminum-cased four-speed transmission, un-synchronized up to the R model which inherited the 600s synchros on the top three speeds. The transmission case and bell housing are also aluminum.
The L, or Lusso (luxury in Italian) version (Fig. 59) was presented in 1968 and was based on the F model. Mechanically it was unchanged from the F but it benefited from meticulous attention to details: different hubcaps and bumpers, bright moldings in the front and rear glass, and a very nicely upgraded interior with carpeting, reclining seats, a larger instrument cluster with a fuel gauge, and pleated-style upholstery and nice appointments including a handsome sport type steering wheel. The R, or revisionata model of 1972 received a transplant of the FIAT 126s 598cc engine and wheels and continued in production for yet another five years. Odysseus Has Nothing On Us In 1971, my wife, Maureen, and I picked up a rental 500L we had reserved a luscious, almost edible brick red with black interior at the Milano airport. The car had a mere 500 kilometers on the clock when we were handed the keys. It is probable that the rental company thought it wise to give it a cursory break-in before being taken on the road and flogged by a couple of Fig 60- Maureen in the rental FIAT 500L Yanks. At any rate, although I drove
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it hard, I really never flogged it, just let it run as fast as it comfortably wanted to. I had used this technique on other new small FIATs with excellent results.
Saving Milano til the end of the trip, we headed down the Po River valley to Verona (Fig. 62), the picturesque city of Shakespeares star-crossed lovers, Romeo e Giulietta. We then went down the spine of the Apennines to Bologna and Firenze. By-passing Venice, we headed north to Cortina dAmpezzo , site of the 1964 Winter Olympics, set in the beautiful and dramatic Dolomite range (Fig. 60) at the east end of the Alps. From Cortina we really hit the full force of the Alps, climbing to the west and north through the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck, then on into Germany and Hohe Schwanngau, near Mad Ludwigs Neu Schwannstein (Fig. 63), the inspiration for Disneys Magic Kingdom castles. By this time, the air-cooled little two-banger had been pretty well run-in and the loosened-up engines idle was up to around 1200 rpm. While fiddling the carburetors idle speed and mixture screws at our Gasthaus, listening intently to its relaxed fuf-fuf-fuf-fuf as I Fig. 63- Neu Schwannstein Castle slowed it to about 800 rpm, I sensed being watched. I looked over my shoulder and there stood a German intently watching and listening. He smiled and said, Ja, gut. Gut! to display his approval of my tuning efforts. Ah, yes, the little 500 is Gut! indeed. After a couple of days visiting the castle and a Sunday hike around the Schwannsee, or Swan Lake, it was off to St. Gallen and Lucerne, up-and-over the 7.100 foot Grimsel Pass then down the Rhone valley to Martigny and upand-over the Col de la Forcie (Fig. 66, 5,014 ft.) into Chamonix to take the cable car to the top of Mont Blanc. It was July, and although the temperature in Chamonix was in the low 90s, at the top of the world it was in the 40s, and there were some diehards skiing!. Cablecar back down to the Cinquecento and up-and-over back into Martigny, Fig. 66- Col de la Forcie (5014) take a right and climb up to the between Martigny (CH) and Great St. Bernard pass (8,100 ft.) Chamonix (FR)
which was a story in itself. We chuffed our way up to the hostel at the top of the pass run by the friars who raise the St Bernard rescue dogs. I pulled in to what I thought was the most promising looking of the buildings there. Alas, the hostel was up at the crest, a couple of hundred yards up what looked to be a 4 or 5% grade. I backed out of the parking space and for the life of me I could not get the car to start up the grade. No amount of engine revving or clutch slipping would do it. I had to back across the parking area, make a rush across the fall line until I got it up a little speed, then whip the wheel toward the top and we chuff, chuff, chuffed our way up to our goal. Density altitude had robbed the little twin of better than 20% of its sea level power and we were down to less than 17 ponies for the car, Maureen, me, and our two suitcases. Game, set, and match: Density altitude wins! It was good sleeping up there, though. Clear, cold mountain air, down quilts, and absolute, and total peace and quiet... well, at least until the dogs were let out to run at the crack of dawn! And, I could dream of driving the wonderful little 500L some in the morning! Dawn, breakfast, wake up the pony and it was literally all downhill into Aosta and then around to Torino, birthplace and hometown of our trusty little steed. On to the west through Sestriere up-and-over into Grenoble, France, for Bastille Day festivities on July 14th. Across the south of France through LePuy; Mende; Millau; Albi; Tarbes; Oloron; San Sebastian, Spain; and into Zarauz, a coastal resort town on the Bay of Biscay a few miles farther west.
The interesting thing about the Alps-- and Italys Apennines, for that matter-- is that, although not nearly as tall as the Rocky Mountains in the Americas, they are much more dramatic with faces well approaching 45 degrees in most places. Further, the Col de Tende (Fig. 67, 6,264 ft.) between Nice, France, and Cuneo, Italy, at 6,264 ft. is less than 25 miles inland from the Mediterranean coast. A road going straight up the mountain is not an option for anything less than a mountain goat, so the lacet (lah-say, laces in French) is/are the
www.microcar.org
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order of the day with our greatest number of the switchbacks in the pictured climb to the Italian frontier, seventeen! But I get ahead of myself, still back in Zarauz, Spain.
After a few days exploring the San Sebastian/Zarauz area, it was down the semi-arid west side of the Pyrenees through Pamplona and Heusca to Llieda then up-and-over through Andorra (7,900 ft.) into Carcassone, France, thence along the coast to Arles, Avignon, Cannes, Nice (Fig. 68), and Monaco. Then up-and-over into Cuneo (Italy) with a side trip up into the mountains to Acceglio for the weekend to wander around the 45 degree slopes surrounding the cittadina, or little city. Down to Dronero (Fig 69) and on to Torino for my tour of the Mirafiore Works and a cherished meeting with one of my all-time heroes, Dante Giacosa (Fig. 70), the man who designed every FIAT I ever owned. I had always wondered how I was able to fit into the smallest of FIATs, the 600 and particularly the 500 we were enjoying on this trip. When I was ushered into Giacosas office at SIRA, his Torino consulting firm following his mandatory retirement from FIAT after 40 years of creativity, I looked him straight and level in the eye. He was, at 70 plus years, still as tall as I was, 190 cm, or six feet two inches. Can you imagine designing a car into which you have precluded your entry? Neither can I. I comfortably fit into the 500 Fig. 70- Dante Giacosa and 600 because Giacosa did! And, yes, he was every bit as unassuming and gracious as this picture suggests (Fig. 70). It was finally time to head back to Milano where I had to give up that wonderful little product of Giacosas fertile mind. I had realized that the transmission needed double-clutching on downshifts but put that off to perhaps a weak set of synchronizers. It wasnt until we had returned home and I had re-read the May 1959 article from Road & Track magazine on the 500s that I realized that its transmission had no synchronizers! To quote from the R&T article, ...the designer (or designers) of the Fiat gearbox made one rather small but all-important change over the standard layout in the Fiat design. The shifting dogs (which are usually placed on the transmission mainshaft and turn at engine speed) have been moved down to the layshaft, where they turn much slower. The rotational speeds of these dog clutches are thereby substantially reduced, and it becomes much easier to hit that elusive meshing point. Dante strikes again! A humorous incident occurred with the sunroof. On the last leg of our trip, from Torino to Milano, we encountered a long freight train at a grade crossing on the main highway-- we studiously avoided being eaten alive by Alfas or even FIAT 850s on the Autostrada. Hey,
they charge tolls, too! Being near midday, the sun was high and hot, and the train seemingly endless. I shut down the engine and pulled the little flip-back sunroof closed, leaving it unlatched to permit air circulation. That was not a good move! After the train had passed and traffic started to move, I relit the fires and we move off smartly.... well, as smartly as 21.5 hp can muster. First gear wound out and a shift to second. Shift to third. The engines approaching the third gear redline at 65 km/h (40 mph) and suddenly, out of the blue, theres a bright flash and a very loud WHACK! The airstream had finally caught the leading edge of the unlatched sunroof and it had flown back admitting a full flash of blue sky and bright sun which were accompanied by the loudest noise I had heard since the rifle range at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the sunroofs bridle slamming down! You just have to love a car with a perverse sense of humor! That handsome, comfortable little FIAT 500 had carried us- never a missing one single beat-- for more than 3,000 miles in five weeks (Fig. 72) at an average fuel economy of better than 44 mpg. We crossed the Alps seven times and the Pyrenees once. The average pass elevation was 6,400 ft. with the highest being the Great Saint Bernard at 8,107 ft.
When we returned to Connecticut, I knew I just had to locate a 500, so enamored was I by the car we had rented for our odyssey. For several years before the trip, I had noticed a white FIAT 500 on the roof of a building at an auto recycler, known at the time as a junkyard. There was a large cutout plywood sign in faded red hung on its side which spelled out, in script, Johnnys. This was just north of Thomaston-- hometown of and named for the famous Connecticut clockmaker, Seth Thomas-- and easily visible from the Route 8, a divided, limited-access highway. I found my way to Johnnys and asked about the car. Johnny said that he couldnt sell because he had a sentimental attachment to the car... his guys had lifted it onto the roof and hung the sign on it one day while he was out to lunch. Well, his sentimental attachment ended at a three hundred dollar offer. And, hed deliver it the 25 miles to my home in Cornwall, twenty-five miles away. Thus began a two year effort to breathe life back into this derelict with the rusted out fascia and floors and with every part which could be installed in more than one way, put in-- you guessed it-- the wrong way. For example, the pistons have offset wrist pins to place the pin in the center of the thrust line between the crown of the piston and the descending crankshaft throw. In my car, the pins were on the other side. I tore the hulk down to a rolling shell and started back up, piece by piece, or, in Italian, pizza by pizza. I later re-arched the front spring using a convenient forked ash tree beside our driveway. The spring is disassembled and the profile of each leaf is scribed on a flat surface-- chalk on the garage floor works just fine. Then each leaf is slipped into the tree crotch and by leaning ones back to it, moving it back and forth in the tree slot to distribute the
16
bending, and checking against the scribed profile, it can re-lofted the desired degree. Re-assemble, paint, and presto! A good-as-new spring. Works like a charm and Ive done this with 600 springs as well. This labor of love (Fig. 73) was a renovation, not a restoration. I took liberties with the interior, using a mix of fabric and vinyl and installed front and rear glass gaskets from the L which have the bright insert. I also ordered the late model tail lamps, the larger all-plastic units. And, there was also a Abarth 3/4 race, or street camshaft that I ordered from Italy. And 67.4mm pistons and barrels for a boost in displacement from 479 to 499.5cc. The brakes got a thorough rebuild and a new clutch went in. All air piping was replaced... cooling air intake, heater delivery, and fresh air intakes from beneath the headlamps, a feature not found on later 500s. All in all, it was a satisfying project and was a great car for all but the coldest periods as the little twin didnt generate much heat. I found that I could even carry my 215cm downhill skis in the car, or, more correctly, sticking out the open sunroof. Not good for inclement weather or long trips to the slopes, however. But Mohawk Mountain Ski Area was a five minute drive away and it worked fine. Straight and level, shed top out at about 65. Perhaps it was the heavier, larger diameter pistons working on the small-bore crankshaft, but that little twin just didnt seem as content turning high revs as the L did in Europe. It was just not as smooth. The Abarth cam made it go like stink. Of course, everything, including stink, is relative.
Microcars On Parade
$24.95 + S&H order: 404-634-5572
www.microcar.org
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Round and Round they go! Rides in MICROCARS is always a big hit during the Open To The Public show on Saturday at The Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation.
Actually the round and round part is just the route the cars take when dropping off and picking up passengers, once loaded with Micro-nuts, they exit stage left to drive around a designated route that surrounds the outside of the Show Field
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Jeff Upton FINALLY decided to bring his BARKley instead of the KR200 he has owned since he bought it new in 1955.
The trailer behind this FIAT Giardiniera is actually a scaled down salesmans sample version of the real one yes for real!
Can someone help Susan Lane with her headlights? They need some adjustment
And if you decide to drive your Renault Dauphine after dark with a dead battery...
make sure you pack plenty of xtra issues of MICROCAR NEWS just in case!
www.microcar.org
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A Perfect Pair
Rob & Patty Gerrings Vespa 400s
used to have a 1950 Chevy, chopped, candy painted, all hand fabricated and when I sold it everybody said: Youll never have another car that will get you this much attention and I said: Youre right.... now I have two! We went to Five ISCA shows last year (Intl Show Car Assoc) and when we pull in with both of them.... people go nuts. The cars dont go into competition against each other. The Blue car is mostly stock except its been repainted. Pattys car (the yellow one) is a mild custom completely redone by Rob, Patty and Jeff Fusaro.
yellow car is totally finished off, smoothed out with polished paint and chrome. When we show the cars indoors we have mirrors under both of them).
So when the judges look at her car and ask What changed? We say Look at the Blue one! Its stock! Of course, everyone thinks its the Urkel car. And people who knew my 1950 Chevy ask: Wheres your other car? and I say I cut it in two. -Rob Gerring
Many thanks to Larry Newberry @ MICROCARLOT.com for help in sourcing parts for the restoration!
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Pattys car won Best of Show at The Vintage Microcar Club National Meet in Madison GA 2007
some of the other awards these two cars have won in the last year
The Vespa 400s unique dial it in and crank method of making sure you mix the correct amount of oil with your gas (it is a 2-stroke) Rob doesnt trust it though and pre-mixes his gas and oil.
www.microcar.org
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Dinky Toys were made by Meccano Limited, the DINKY trademark now belongs to Matchbox Toys, part of Mattel, Inc. The Vespa 400 was made in 1959 primarily Blue, made in France, #24L French Dinky Toys were apparently renumbered in 1959 so some models may have a different number than 24L
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A series of 1:43 models were produced by the Midget Toys Co. as Serie B model 12, but boxes also exist for a Serie A model 14 that is smaller and also says Midget Cars Co. What goes in the smaller box?
The next 2 sets of models are really really small, note Penny for scale. mfg unknown.
Unfortunately nothing larger than 1:43 seems to have been produced. If you want a larger model you will have to try and find this Vespa 400 Pedal Car!
Thanks to The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum for access to these toys!
www.microcar.org
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ON COLLECTING...
by Bruce Weiner
There are three aspects of collecting that are important to me: 1) The Hunt 2) Diamond in the Rough 3) Sharing THE HUNT Tracking down a rare car halfway around the world sometimes based only on a rumour and eventually aquiring it is very exciting for me. I have been very fortunate to have made friends all over the world that share my enthusiasm for this part of the collecting hobby. Sometimes what is uncovered is something that has been overlooked or passed over by others as too far gone or perhaps not significant enough to be saved. which brings me to; DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH While I do appreciate good original vehicles that have been unrestored, many times THE HUNT results in something that has been refurbished, altered, customized, or usually just neglected and abandoned. Some people might see a pile of rusted metal and some old cardboard boxes with parts that may or may not be from the vehicle. I see what the car CAN be. Many of these cars, especially the ones that were only made in small numbers, were someones dream to solve a transportation problem. Some of these cars are a real challenge, but as I enjoy THE HUNT, I also enjoy the challenge of finding that DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH and bringing it back for other generations to enjoy. which brings me to; SHARING Its no fun having a collection of wonderful things if you cant share them with someone. That is why I have all the cars on a website. That is why I open the collection to the public That is why I host MICROS IN MADISON every 2 years. We spend countless hours getting Microcars ready for others to Test Drive! Hopefully this inspires others to get their cars running and also SHARE them!
But sometimes you really CAN have too much of a good thing. Sometimes THE HUNT results in my finding a particular Microcar, but I have to buy someones entire collection in order to obtain the one car I am looking for. So I buy one car and end up with six. Sometimes I just see a car and love it and I have to have it. Never mind that I already have 2 or 3 of them already. Or in the case of Messerschmitts...30 or 40 of them (I really really love Messerschmitts, in case you did not know...) A few years ago I enlarged the Museum Building, but that apparently was not enough. I am out of room! So I have made the decision to sell some cars to bring the collection to a more manageable level. Six months ago if you had asked me if I would sell any cars, I would have said No, No, No but right now it is Yes, Yes, Yes. and I am offering them here exclusively through the magazine to help promote the hobby. I want other enthusiasts to enjoy these cars as much as I have.
Please check out the next page for what I have decided to part with. The Messerschmitts are all priced the same! First Come, First Served. Which one is better? You decide. I cant answer that question for you. If you want to see more photos, you can go to my website, but you have to go to this address: www.microcarmuseum.com/microcars/ They will not be linked from the Main Page at the outset. After this issue has been delivered I may put a link on the front page so you can find the cars easier. You can also have photos emailed to you, click the Contact Link on my website and make sure you mention that you are a Vintage Microcar Club member.
All Cars at located at The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum 2950 Eatonton Road Madison Georgia. You can inspect the cars anytime during the week between 9am and 4pm, please email or call ahead to confirm. Personal Checks are accepted. All cars will come with a State of Georgia Registration that can be used to obtain a valid title in your state. Georgia does not issue Titles for cars pre 1964
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classifieds
KLEINSCHNITTGER
aluminum body, sat for 30 years indoors in Germany someone installed a pair of 2CV headlamps on it (?) but they can be removed. Fairly complete.| Super rare in the US
$6,000
Zundapp Janus
appears to be complete. Sat Indoors for 30 years in Germany Hand-painted so it is really special.
$14,000
1956 Messerschmitt KR200
Solid car with NO ROT Sat indoors in Germany for MANY years. It is now too tightly packed away for anymore info it is not out in the open like in this photo
$14,000
Berkeley T60
Refurbished and Running
$9950
1962 Messerschmitt KR200
Refurbished in the past, dome in good shape, NO ROT It is now too tightly packed away for anymore info it is not out in the open like in this photo
$6,000
$9950
Lloyd LP300
appears to be complete Sat Indoors for 30 years in Germany it can sit in your garage for:
$1500
Mochet CM 125
very solid car, fairly complete needs restoration, or just paint and display it!
$9950
1963 Messerschmitt KR200
Needs suspension bushings changed badly Dome is cracked in several places. No Rot, floor pan replaced in the past. It is now too tightly packed away for anymore info it is not out in the open like in this photo
$5,000
ISO Isetta (spanish)
Restored running car. This car was a driver at 2007 Micros In Madison now YOU can drive anytime you want for
$9950
Messerschmitt KR200 dometop
Too tightly packed away for anymore info
$20,000
ROLUX Baby (french)
Fairly complete, looks presentable As-Is, but needs restoration Where are you going to find one of these? Only here. Only a handful exist.
$9950
Messerschmitt KR200 dometop
Too tightly packed away for anymore info
$10,000
MOCHET CM125 Y
Refurbished and running car. This was a driver at 2007 Micros In Madison now YOU can drive it anytime you want for
$9950
Messerschmitt KR200 cabrio
Too tightly packed away for anymore info
$7500
VELAM Isetta
Very, Very nice looking car arguably the most beautiful style of Isetta ever built.
$9950
$15,000
ZETA Sports
from Australia fairly complete, but photo does not show cabrio top & bows. Fiberglas body, incredibly rare This has the TG500 engine
$15,000
MAICO 500
appears to be fairly complete. Sat Indoors for 30 years in Germany it can sit in your garage for
more info and photos at: www.MicrocarMuseum.com/microcars/ email: cars@microcarmuseum.com or phone The Club: 630-642-7622 with questions
First Come, First Served. All cars As-Is, Where is. most of these are on Racks or in the Loft and it is not possible to bring them down into an open area unless you are buying it and taking it with you. Personal Checks OK.
$1500
www.microcar.org
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classifieds
Microcar Mugs
Handmade ceramic stoneware pottery including Microcar Mugs. Isetta and Goggomobil now available. www.LindooPotteryworks.com 630-327-8854
Microcar WANTED:
Wanted: Isetta Body in Good Condition
COMPLETE DELUXE BODY (WITH SIDE TRIM FOR TWO TONE PAINT) MINIMAL RUST AND DAMAGE ALSO NEED HEAD LIGHT BUCKETS, ALL GLASS AND ALUMINIUM SLIDING WINDOW FRAMES. contact ED REGAN 315-655-8799 email: REGANE@UPSTATE.EDU
for a BMW Isetta. Formula Car comes with TONS of spares, including body work, Hewland Mk 9 gears, spare wheels and tires, and much more. I have the log book that shows extensive racing history and some wins. Car is located just north of Atlanta, GA. I am looking for a nice driver Isetta. I would also consider any other neat micro car. Email for lots of pics. Call or email anytime: Mitch 770-846-0440 or email: fourre308@yahoo.com
motor or transmission. Any condition. So. Cal call Dennis: 951-766-0604 email: dr1970@lasercom.net
Wanted: Wanted: Pulse or Litestar Autocycle Contact Lorain Reese 440-969-1410 Wanted: Wanted: Trojan Heinkel, any condition. Also looking for Citroen Traction Avant, used smart car. Contact: Rod Rojas, NY. 518-605-8885 email: chunkynacho@cs.com Wanted : Info on Morgan Monotrace
built 1925-1926 Ken Weger 815-459-5005 email: knsweger@mc.net
Wanted: I am looking for a front towel rack type bumper for my KR 200.
Everone removes them but I would like one. Tom Harpel, PA 484-767-2412 email: tharpel@rcn.com
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Microcar WANTED:
Wanted: Back Issue of BUBBLE NOTES July 1976
Original please, any one copy would be appreciated Ken Weger 815-459-5005 email: knsweger@mc.net
Wanted - France Jet Where is this car? Contact Rob Maselko Rob@Microcar.org or 973-366-1410
Classified Ads are available to Vintage Microcar Club Members ONLY. Free photo + 75 word max (dont count Location, price and contact info) MICROCAR For Sale, Wanted, Parts, etc. only Deadline for NEXT issue is October 25 2007
$69.00
A pair
Isetta Parts
Isetta Front Bumper
$99.00
$10.00 Shipping and handling Call toll free 866-658-7300 or visit us online at www.wildfiremotors.com More parts will be coming soon.
www.microcar.org
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Microcar Parts/Clubs/etc
A reference list of Parts Suppliers and Clubs, not complete, but if you know of any to add, please let us know. also- if any information is out of date, let us know. a more extensive reference list is available at www.microcar.org
Ed Korn CYCLE WORKS INC. 4812 Goodland Park Road Oregon WI 53575 (608) 246 0404 www.cycleworks.net Bill Rogers 843-774-4978 www.isettadoc.com Phoenix Isetta Chuck Nash 1200 Skyline Drive Laramie, WY 82070 (307)-742-3033 www.PhoenixIsetta.com Carburetor Rebuild Bing Agency International 1704 South 525 Road Council Grove, KS 66846 Technical Assistance: 620-767-7844 Orders Only: 800-309-2464 www.bingcarburetor.com bing@bingcarburetor.com British Spec. Isetta parts Girling Brake parts and Lucas lamps David Tadman www.BromleyBubble.com
IsettaClassics Leonardo Correa Luna isettaclassics@gmail.com. http://www.IsettaClassics.com Isetta Owners Club of Great Britain Membership secretary: Jeff Wareing 109 Fulbeck Avenue Marus Bridge , Wigan WN3 5QL England iocgbmembership@blueyonder.co.uk www.isetta-owners-club-gb.com Isetta Club e.v.. (German Isetta Club) Henner Rensch Hansestrasse 90 D-3300 Braunschweig, Germany Isetta Owners Club of Japan www.kiwat.com/isetta
Clubs
The American Austin/Bantam Club Marilyn Sanson AABC Treasurer 724 Maple Dr. Kirkville, NY 13082
http://clubs.hemmings.com/americanaustinbantam
Austin Bantam Society 1589 N. Grand Oaks Ave. Pasadena, CA 91104 www.sandiegowow.com/pbac/
BERKELEY Club
The Berkeley Newsletter Mike Turturro 35 Franklin Ave Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 914-271-6579 mturtu1648@aol.com
BOND
Bond Owners Club Stan Cornock 42 Beaufort Avenue Hodge Hill Birmingham England B34 6AE phone (+44) (0) 121 784 4626
Parts
Bond Bug Parts (North America) Peter Svilans / Vintage Motor Craft 33 Centre Street Thornhill, Ontario L4J 1G1 CANADA 905-731-1261 www.BondBugParts.com
BMW 700
700 Rubber Trim Parts Robert Lynch 6100 Northern Hills Drive Omaha, NE 68152 (402) 573-1684 robertdlynch@earthlink.net
Club
Rocky Mountain Isetta Club Vic Cameron 6516 Constellation Drive Fort Collins, CO 80525 isettadr@aol.com
CITROEN Parts
French Parts Service 1720 Sylvester Road NW Normandy Park, WA 98166 (206)242-4888 www.2cvsource.com
(many many more Citroen suppliers, check the website for links to them)
Outside USA:
Isetta & BMW600 parts Hans Rothkegel Schulstr. 10B S-86875 Waal Germany 0049-8246-879 www.isettahans.de Free Catalog
CROSLEY
Crosley Automobile Club Inc. 307 Schaeffer Rd Blandon, PA 19510 www.ggw.org/~cac
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DAF
DAF Club of America John deBruin - Director 46 Mt. Tabor Ave. Mount Tabor, VT 05739 (802) 293-5541 thebear54@vermontel.net http://clubs.hemmings.com/daf
Parts
Mr. Jim Hacking 1-Off Sheetmetal Co Ltd. Unit 11 Low Mills Trading Estate Low Mills Lane RAVENSTHORPE Dewsbury. England WF13 3LX. Tel: 01924 495436 www.micro-car.net
PEEL
The Peel Register
(for Peel P50, Trident and other Peel Engineering products)
contact Steve Hurn: steve@hurn.fsworld.co.uk Peel Replicas and Parts: Andy Carter http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andy.carter
DKW
DKW Club of America Steve Sears -president 186 Mohawk Rd Ancaster, Ontario L9G 2W9 CANADA www.dkwclub.org
HONDA 600
600 Headquarters Miles Chappell po box 1262 Felton, CA 95018 (831) 588-6349 www.600miles.com OConnors Honda 600 Shop Mike OConnor 510 Holly Street Statesville, NC 28677 (704)871-1951 www.honda600shop.com Tim Merciless Mings Azusa, CA 818-355-5165 http://mercilessmingshondan600.itgo.com
SCOOTACAR
The Scootacar Register Stephen Boyd Pamanste 18 Holman Close Aylsham, Norwich Norfolk NR11 6DD England
FIAT
Bayless Inc. 1111 Via Bayless dept VMC Marrietta GA 30066-2770 fax: (770)-928-1342 sales@baylessfiat.com www.baylessfiat.com C.Oberts & Co. Chris Obert 2131 D Delaware Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (831)423-0218 (800)500-3428 (orders only) FiatPlus@aol.com
KING MIDGET
International King-Midget Car Club Paula Jasper 2425 Ervin Lane Stockport, OH 43787 740-559-3983 www.KingMidgetCarClub.org
Vespa 400
Vespa 400 Club France Nicolas Courtonne BP17 77610 La Houssaye, France Tel: (French Time!) 0033-68-243-72-21 Vespa400@free.fr www.Vespa400.com
Club
Fiat 500 Club Canada po box 56600 5289 Hwy 7 West, Unit 7 Woodbridge, ON Canada L4L 8V3 (905)475-6513
http://clubs.hemmings.com/fiat500canada
Parts
Larry Newberry Knoxville, TN (865)-523-2877 www.microcarlot.com Vespa 400 Register Hank Pinckney 58 Upper Eager Rd Newfane, VT 05345 (802) 365-5059
Parts
Chris in the Netherlands: www.messerschmitt.nl Suspension replacement for KR200/201 (see classifieds) Karl Kleeman 725 S. Main Street Taylor, PA 18517 (570) 562-3379 email: knkcars@msn.com
GOGGOMOBIL
Parts & Accessories Uwe Staufenberg Gollenhof 8 71397 Weiler zum Stein Germany www.goggomobil.com
Multi-Make:
The Register of Unusual Microcars magazine: RUMCAR NEWS Jean Hammond School House Farm Boarden Lane, Hawkenbury Staplehurst, KENT TN12 0EB UK www.RumCars.org jeanrumcars@aol.com
NSU
NSU Enthusiasts USA Terry Stuchlik 2909 Utah Alton, IL 62002
Peter Jones 37 Brinklow Close Matchborough West Reddich B98 OHB, England pjtrojan@rdplus.net
www.microcar.org
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Calendar:
MONTHLY MEETINGS:
Central Texas Micronauts Car Club 2nd Thursday ea month 7pm Rudys BBQ on Loop 360 Austin TX Info: Bruce Fullerton: 512-458-1144 email: brucef@austin.rr.com
Calendar: 2008:
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www.microcar.org
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